Aluminum: The EU will consider measures backup

LONDON (Reuters) – The european Union (EU) will undoubtedly safeguard measures in the regulatory framework of the world trade Organization (WTO) after the United States had imposed a customs duty of 10% on the aluminum, said Monday the professional organisation of the European Aluminium.

“We believe that the EU will proceed with the review of safeguard measures as soon as possible, within the framework of WTO rules”, says the European Aluminium.

“The re-orientation (import – ED) can be done in a number of markets, Russia, middle East, China, and others; take precautions to prevent any realignment is likely to cause prejudice to the EU”.

The EU has opened up at the end of march a “safeguard investigation” to determine if the u.s. tariff lead to an increase in steel imports in Europe.

The European Aluminium, which has more than 80 members, abstained from any comment on the impact of the sanctions announced Friday by the United States on Rusal, a leading global provider of aluminum.

“We can not say anything about the impact of sanctions against Russia”, said the federation. “We will continue to monitor the markets in the meantime”.

(Eric Onstadt; Wilfrid Exbrayat for the French service)